Maria Gorska led her artistic career as no woman had done before her. She wants a free, rich and worldly life. Aged 18, she chooses a husband who can offer such criteria and becomes Maria Lempicka. Pushed away by the Russian revolution, they arrive in Paris. She takes as her artist name Tamara de Lempicka, sometimes spelled Lempitzka for inviting to the correct pronunciation of her name in French.
The openly bisexual young woman appeals the wealthy clients to whom she proposes to realize their portraits. She studies the paintings of the Italian Renaissance and offers soft colors and sharp realistic lines barely altered by the cubism that André Lhote had taught to her.
The elite conquered by Tamara dresses according to fashion. In addition to their pictorial quality, her paintings remain a testimony and even a symbol of the Roaring Twenties.
The reputation of sexual freedom of the Italian aristocracy suits her purpose. In 1925, she leaves for new adventures. It succeeded : the young dandies invite her in their bed.
The portraits are made with bold angles. The Marquis d'Afflito is nonchalant, slumped on a sofa, but he is handsome and ready to intervene. This oil on canvas 81 x 130 cm was sold for $ 4.6 million including premium by Christie's on November 7, 2012.
Tamara made two portraits of the Marquis Sommi who was one of her lovers in the same Italian getaway. The vertical format is more sober and may be compared with Zborowski's friends painted by Modigliani in the previous decade. One of them, 100 x 73 cm, was sold for $ 4.3 million including premium by Christie's on 3 November 2009. The other portrait of Sommi, 135 x 71 cm, is estimated $ 4M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 14, lot 31.
unsold
The openly bisexual young woman appeals the wealthy clients to whom she proposes to realize their portraits. She studies the paintings of the Italian Renaissance and offers soft colors and sharp realistic lines barely altered by the cubism that André Lhote had taught to her.
The elite conquered by Tamara dresses according to fashion. In addition to their pictorial quality, her paintings remain a testimony and even a symbol of the Roaring Twenties.
The reputation of sexual freedom of the Italian aristocracy suits her purpose. In 1925, she leaves for new adventures. It succeeded : the young dandies invite her in their bed.
The portraits are made with bold angles. The Marquis d'Afflito is nonchalant, slumped on a sofa, but he is handsome and ready to intervene. This oil on canvas 81 x 130 cm was sold for $ 4.6 million including premium by Christie's on November 7, 2012.
Tamara made two portraits of the Marquis Sommi who was one of her lovers in the same Italian getaway. The vertical format is more sober and may be compared with Zborowski's friends painted by Modigliani in the previous decade. One of them, 100 x 73 cm, was sold for $ 4.3 million including premium by Christie's on 3 November 2009. The other portrait of Sommi, 135 x 71 cm, is estimated $ 4M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 14, lot 31.
unsold
The Baffling But Tireless Tamara de Lempicka Market https://t.co/IUSJOvGOIM pic.twitter.com/YWhlX8xpYO
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) November 1, 2016
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